Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Scope definition

What does Scope mean? Scope (often called the scope of works) describes, in construction and engineering practice, the package of work the contractor must perform and any constraints or methods required. It is not defined by legislation and has no universal legal meaning; its content is contractual and is interpreted using ordinary principles of contract construction across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. In the NEC4 suite, Scope (capitalised) is a defined term that specifies and describes the work the Contractor is to undertake and any constraints on how it Provides the Works, for example required standards, design responsibility, performance criteria,...

UK corporation tax: defining ‘distributions’—scope, categories, statutory exclusions, anti-avoidance and case law (Clipperton)

Published by a LexisNexis Tax expert

Practice notes

Ordinarily, Distributions take the form of cash dividends paid by a Company to its shareholders—essentially a straightforward payment of profits to the company’s owners. However, the corporation tax meaning of distribution differs from the company law concept (see Practice Note: Dividends, distributions and scrip dividends).

Why does it matter whether a payment is a distribution?

It is vital to establish whether a particular payment by a UK company is a distribution because, if it is:

the paying company is not permitted a deduction for the amount in its UK corporation tax computation; and
a UK corporate recipient will be chargeable to corporation tax on the amount under CTA 2009, Part 9A, unless the payment falls within one of the specific exemptions—for further detail, see Practice Notes: How are small companies taxed on distributions received? and How are non-small companies taxed on distributions received?

Since most routine distributions are covered by an exemption from tax, it will usually be in the recipient’s interests for the payment to be characterised as a distribution...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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